


DVD Commentary: a whole lot more than riches and muscle

by rawrimmapanda



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Commentary, DVD Commentary Challenge, M/M, Winnipeg Jets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:01:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29790927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rawrimmapanda/pseuds/rawrimmapanda
Summary: It was requested by @iaintafraidofnoghostbear that I do a DVD commentary on the fic a whole lot more than riches and muscle. It's fun to re-visit this fic a couple of years later. I broke it up by chapter, but a lot of it bleeds together. Enjoy!
Relationships: Mark Scheifele/Blake Wheeler
Kudos: 3





	DVD Commentary: a whole lot more than riches and muscle

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [a whole lot more than riches and muscle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21088436) by [rawrimmapanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rawrimmapanda/pseuds/rawrimmapanda). 



So the starting point for this whole fic was a few songs. They’re in the playlist that I linked in the fic. I always loved the song The Humbling River and I thought it was perfect for what I had in mind. 

I chose to go with alternating point of view for the first few chapters to give context and to spread the time frame across the 7 years. All scores, game events, and other hockey related items were all true events and I did a lot of digging into schedules using hockey reference and HockeyViz. I paid for HockeyViz so I could access all the historical data for this. 

I’m going to go chapter by chapter for this to make it easier to follow along with the actual fic.

**Chapter One:**

Mark was the first draft pick of the new Winnipeg Jets and I wanted to focus on the pressure he felt during that. During many interviews he talked about wanting to be the best and make that pick proud. During the draft, the Jets gave their draft picks generic NHL jerseys because the Jets had not released their jersey yet. I wanted to tie the uncertainty of what the logo was to the uncertainty of not having a soulmate yet.

Mark did play the first game on the third line, as confirmed by HockeyViz. He didn’t have much ice time but he did play and didn’t quite make an impact. I figured that Blake hadn’t made many rounds to players yet since he was still new to the organization and, at the time, Ladd was the captain. 

The soulmarks were deliberate choices. Mark is a huge hockey nerd and follows all the stats and games so I figured a stick would make sense. The bird that I chose for Blake was a loon, which is the state bird of Minnesota. It was between the loon and a gopher. 

There is an image of Bogosian sitting next to a very undeveloped Mark Schifele where Mark looks at his poor muscles against Zach’s and I thought of that when I had Zach throw his arm around Mark. 

I referenced a movie moment because I figured a young hopeful guy like Mark would have been into romance movies, especially since he hadn’t gotten a soulmark yet.

**Chapter Two:**

Blake bonding previously is a nod to his actual wife Sam. I had to justify getting rid of her in the story and I figured them being friends was the best option. 

The group chat idea was because I felt I needed to involve scary Big Buff. I also figured Bryan was a good voice of reason and wanted to show that. I kept the practice scene pretty short so that I could put the bulk of the story movement in the lunch date. 

In the lunch I wanted to show Mark being reserved and disappointed. I let Blake dictate a lot of the conversation in a way to show him as more put together than he was actually. I wanted to give that feel of him being overwhelmed but putting on a brave face. 

  
**Chapter Three:**

Fun fact! Before this went live on AO3 for Hockey Big Bang, I let my partner read it. He read it off the google doc on my phone. We were sitting in a really weird AirBnB (it had a lot of clown figurines) and cuddling. Many times throughout the story, starting around here, he would just go “Oh poor baby gay Mark Scheifele”. Also, he told me to tag the whole story as “mmm that gay shit”. 

So now we have Mark all flustered and exasperated with the whole lunch. Since he didn’t stay up with the team after 7 games it was hard to write a whole lot there. I added a single text from Blake (which was the only text he sent at this point). 

The tone I wanted to convey while Mark is stuffing his clothes in a suitcase was one that was angry and frustrated. I figured I’d add an end of season party for fun. I wanted to bring in some random drama for interest. 

Texting your soulmate who isn’t quite your ex while drunk seemed to be the perfect fit. I also wanted to hint at the fact that Mark didn’t tell anyone he bonded because I figured it would be something he’d keep a secret. 

I wanted to show Blake having some compassion and concern. He’s not the bad guy! I promise! 

Blake dictating the whole thing was his way of keeping level and not overreacting. It also made it seem like he was overreacting. Sometimes we’re not great with emotions and I wanted to showcase that bit of humanity. 

Aaron being the good bro he is giving up his bed was just a nice little touch added in. It also alludes to some more “drama” later. 

**Chapter Four:**

Look! Blake being an adult! Don’t blink or it might go away for a few years. 

Blake made the phone call. I wanted to show him actually stepping up for once, despite his reservations about the whole thing. 

Here we go again with all the control in the world just to feel like he’s coping well. Spoiler: He’s not. He’s coping terribly

Weekly conversations felt like a good idea in the moment. Blake talking about them training together is a nod to them actually doing that now. They’ve trained together in the offseason for a few years now. They do it in Florida (of all places).

**Chapter Five:**

Who called weekly phone calls not working out? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. People get busy and it’s hard to keep up on.

Mark didn’t have the greatest showing in his second year. He didn’t get called up to the NHL at all and only played 10 games in the AHL. This was a great place to introduce the offseason idea. 

I did a lot of watching Biosteel videos to see if I could find Mark this particular year (and I did!). 

From my time being around Canadians, a lot of them go to the cottage for the weekend during summer. I figured Mark, being the good Canadian he is, also did that. 

I wanted the drive to the cottage to mean something so I had Mark probe the block a bit. I figured if he was anything like me, when driving a long distance it’s easy to get lost in your thoughts. Why not try and poke around at the same time?

Aaron had to bring it up. Now his friends are involved and he didn’t want that. Time for more drama!

I feel like I made Ekblad smarter than he might actually be, but I blame that on his “I look like I’m almost 30 while I’m only 20” thing. 

Good on him to know the difference between a loon and a duck too! Also, feelings from Aaron? Might as well!

Mark gets a kiss! His *first* kiss to be correct. I wanted Mark to feel appreciated, yet have a good boundary. Aaron was supposed to be the example of what a good partner would be like. 

Mark’s emotional and randomly texting Blake? Of course. What else is he going to do? Face his emotions head on? Nah

**Chapter Six:**

Oh hey, Blake is actually being an adult about his emotions. I figured I’d give him a break from being a control freak. 

“But I make do” was code for masturbation. 

Careful and calculated ways of dealing with stuff usually stems from a need to be perfect, which I felt like was a good vibe to go with for Blake.

Oh! This is where I screwed up and forgot about the lockout. Mark made the team out of camp but I never changed it in the story. I just forgot that the season didn’t start until January. That being said, Mark was only with the team for 4 games, so wasn’t much to build on there.

**Chapter Seven:**

Mark is officially over it. Hockey needed to come first and soulmate stuff could be put on the back burner. Might as well since Blake didn’t care. 

Yeah, that was the vibe there. Mark was totally done with it all. Making the team was pissing him off (even though he wouldn’t say that word).

Jake refers to Jacob Trouba. Him and Mark really did watch movies like High School Musical. There are some behind the scenes videos from the Jets where this happened and the older guys, Blake included, mention how young they seem at times. So yeah, Mark and Jake totally sang High School Musical to each other on camera. What follows afterwards isn’t true, but it’s a great jump off point.

Here we go. Mark gets his “moment”

And boy did the boys really screw it up. Jealousy and bitterness. 

I have a comment on the fic where people are flat out angry at Blake and that’s the type of emotion I wanted to invoke. He’s not bad, but boy did he screw up here. 

First kiss! We’re seven chapters in and we get our first kiss and boy was it not a great moment. I didn’t want the first kiss to mean everything was all great and perfect. Blake was a giant dick for 3 years at this point, he didn’t get a pass. I wanted Mark to stand up for himself and not give into his movie fantasy. 

**Chapter Eight:**

This is where my anger at Paul Maurice starts and my frantic scanning of HockeyViz was a big problem. The Jets did fire Claude Noel in early January and then brought in Paul Maurice. The first game under Maurice? Yeah, he put Blake and Mark together. 

And they’ve stayed on the same line since then. To my chagrin. (It’s not a great line at times, especially with Blake aging)

Anyway! First proper date! I find the concept of gastropubs very interesting (and hipster) so I went with it. I know Winnipeg has a more hipster-y area at the Forks, so I figured that’s where they went. 

I wanted a bit of a callback to the first soulbond Blake had. I figured some introspection would be good since he had been an ass up to this point.

It took 3 years for a proper date, so I figured I’d make it a cute one. 

**Chapter Nine:**

Ok, so the driving around to find parking thing? That’s like 90% of my driving when I’m in Winnipeg visiting. I swear they have the worst parking situation ever. Also the city is laid out as a circle and not a grid, which drives me up the wall, but I digress.

I hate fics where the players always eat healthy food or takeout. There is usually no in-between. I wanted a good burger for once! I also mentioned the green eyes again. There is a video by the Jets where they’re talking about the Aviator jerseys and Mark is like “I like them because they bring out my blue eyes.” And then turns to Blake and goes “He’ll like them for the same reason.” Blake just responds with “I have green eyes. You should know that, why don’t you know that?”. Since then, I’ve included references to it in almost every fic I write with them.

Playing with a tomato and choosing to not go barbaric on it? Couldn’t be me. I’d be Blake stealing the thing and ending the problem. 

Mark has talked about advanced stats for years at this point, so I thought it would be fun to add that into the story. He admits to being a giant nerd and it wouldn’t do him justice if I didn’t lean into it some. Also, by this point in my writing and research, I had seen so many advanced stats about these two I was going to stick it in there. 

Dairy Queen in the winter. I’m not sure if this is a thing in Winnipeg, but where I live in Minnesota, the Dairy Queen shuts down during winter. The towns on either side of me have ones that stay open, but the one in my town always shuts down. Just a little personal touch added into the story. Also, Dairy Queen is based out of Minnesota and Blake would probably have a soft spot for them based on that alone.

Oh no! A proper kiss where both parties are into it. Only took 3 years to get to this point. I couldn’t let it be just one kiss. A little making out and then breaking apart to be polite. Not everything has to turn to sex. 

**Chapter Ten:**

But jerking off and not putting up a block? Totally fine. 

Mark has been waiting for years at this point, good on Blake for being polite, but Mark clearly wanted something. 

A little sexting never hurt anyone. Not too much to read into this honestly. They jerked off at each other and it was a nice sappy moment. 

**Chapter Eleven:**

I thought it would be fun to lean into Jake being loud and nosy. Nothing much here, just him being nosy and setting things up for later.

The Olympic break! So, I’m an idiot and forgot that the Olympics happened. My notes on the document for this section said “Figure out why there is a huge break”. And then they were “Olympics. Figure it out”. I figured it out eventually.

It’s not a hockey fic if there isn’t mention of fines in a locker room. Ladd felt like the right choice to enforce them since he was the captain. 

A little jerking off payback never hurt anyone. Also, it builds some tension for the actual sex.

Time for some callbacks! Jake giving Blake a shovel talk is hilarious to me. Blake is two inches taller and could probably take him. I had to add it regardless. 

It wouldn’t be fair if the two from the first chapter didn’t chime in. I could imagine Mark being scared shitless at Buff threatening him. Just picture a tiny Mark Scheifele being bullied by Dustin Byfuglien. It’s a funny picture. 

Here comes the most researched game I’ve ever had. Every single time stamp and goals were correct. The way they celebrated after the goals is exactly how it was in the actual game. They basically hugged while celebrating and it was great. 

They lost, which sucked, but Mark finally got railed. You win some, you lose some.

**Chapter Twelve:**

Some morning lovey dovey stuff to soften the mood. I also remember someone saying they never hear of players doing basic hygiene in fics, so I felt like I had to add it in. It’s a weird thing to stick in my mind, but it has to this day. 

I felt it would be funny that if Mark was initially against the idea of sex in the kitchen and then changing his mind.Just some fun juxtaposition. 

They said I love you! I wanted it to be a sweet stopping point for the fic, but then real life happened.

**Chapter Thirteen:**

I know some people would think it’s bad luck to end on 13, but it’s my lucky number and I had to add in a little bit of a future look. 

At this point the two of them are living together and Mark is getting his phone call inviting him to the All Star game. I thought it would be fun to have Mark realize via Twitter that Blake made it. 

A little domestic scene being set with dinner and a shower. I figured it would be a good time for Blake to propose. Mind you, this is about 3 years after chapter 12. I went with a blue box and a ring with blue on it to match Mark’s eyes. 

  
Thank you for reading all of this! This particular fic is my pride and joy and I feel like I peaked with this. It’s always great to re-read and add my thoughts for the world to read. 


End file.
